Yasutora Sado
Yasutora Sado (茶渡 泰虎, Sado Yasutora?) is a teenager who studies in the same class as Ichigo Kurosaki. Because Ichigo first read Yasutora's name off a nametag, he pronounced his family name as Chad (チャド, Chado?) due to the kanji, and Ichigo continues to call him this throughout the story. Character outline Chad is a teenager of Mexican descent. He is extremely tall and appears to be much older than he actually is. Chad has a tattoo on his left shoulder which reads Amore e Morte ("love and death" in Italian) and consists of a heart, a snake and angel wings around the heart. In the series, he is usually seen wearing either his school uniform or a tee shirt. At one point in the series, he is seen wearing a dark, long-sleeved shirt with a rose emblazoned on the left sleeve. The rose may be in honor of his grandfather seeing as how his grandfather's name was Oscar Joaquín de la Rosa, de la Rosa being Spanish for "of the Rose." His first name can mean "Calm Tiger" when broken up into Yasu(calm)and Tora(tiger) Chad is a quiet person and is sometimes the subject of jokes or bullies because he never fights back, against ordinary humans at least, since he often engages hollows and shinigami only when necessary. Nonetheless, he is treated equally within his group of friends in Karakura (Ichigo, Keigo and Mizuiro). Chad also has a weakness for cute things, like small animals and Kon, he is one of the few characters that actually treats Kon with any dignity but for the most part ignores him. To match his extraordinary size, Chad possesses extraordinary superhuman durability, even before activating his spiritual powers, being able to survive the impact of a falling steel girder on his back and a head-on motorcycle collision, and is strong enough to break telephone poles. Besides his physical strength, Chad has also shown to be very intelligent; he ranked 11th out of 322 when Ichigo ranked 23rd.Bleach manga; chapter 35, page 13. Chad likes music, but rarely watches TV. The only programs he like are Carnivore Kingdom, which starts at 8 a.m. on Sundays. He likes it so much that he bought the DVDs for it.Weekly Shonen Jump interview, year 2004, issue 42. Not surprisingly, since Kon is a cheap knock-off plushie of the main character of Carnivore Kingdom, Chad finds Kon especially cute. The other show is Don Kanonji's Ghost Bust. Chad also has a bass guitar, but has never been shown playing it. It has been shown in Chad's room in episode 69 and in the 8th anime ending sequence. It's also shown in episode 9 after a "band practice." He is also seen carrying it immediately preceding the appearance of the incomplete arrancar.Bleach manga; chapter 184, page 15. History Chad was born in Okinawa, Japan, but was taken to Mexico by his parents at a young age. After their deaths, Chad was adopted by Oscar Joaquín de la Rosa, a man believed to be his grandfather since Chad calls him Abuelo ("Grandfather" in Spanish). During his early years, Chad was extremely violent; exploiting his advantage in size, he intimidated and hit any other children who annoyed him. Oscar Joaquín tried to teach Chad to be gentle, but was initially unsuccessful. One day, the fathers of the children Chad fought, seeking to punish him, attacked Chad. Oscar Joaquín stepped in between them, taking Chad's punishment without retaliation. Chad was inspired by this example to become a decent person. Afterwards, Oscar Joaquín gave Chad a Mexican coin. The coin was minted sometime between 1823 and 1909, and has the words "Republica Mexicana" engraved on it, as well as the Mexican National Emblem. The monetary reform of 1905 minted Mexican coins with the words, "Estados Unidos Mexicanos’," are seen on the Mexican peso today. Years later, when Oscar Joaquín had died, Chad made a vow that he would never fight unless it was to protect others, as instructed — even if his own life was in danger. The coin would come to symbolize this vow, which Chad now claims to hold more value than his own life. Many years later, this was used against him when some thugs captured him and threatened to destroy the coin. Ichigo saved him from them, and made a pact with Chad that they would fight for each other, because Chad wouldn't fight to protect himself. When Abuelo died, Chad decided to return to Japan, where he entered Mashiba Junior High School. Because of his constant involvement with gangsters, Chad gained a reputation as a ruthless gangster himself. Others were scared of him when he first entered Karakura High, though this later changed. He met Ichigo slightly before the school year started when he saved Ichigo from being injured by local thugs. Eventually, he and Ichigo graduated from Mashiba and entered Karakura High School. Personality Chad is shown to have a very loyal personality. He is quite loyal to his friends, especially Ichigo, even going as far as to try and defeat a captain to go help Ichigo. In terms of luck Chad can be considered unlucky as whenever the group splits up he usually if not always ends up alone and encounters a powerful enemy who dispatches Chad quickly. He is also shown to be fearless and told so by numerous enemies such as the first hollow he fights. He displays little emotion except when something he cares about is in danger. Synopsis Karakura arc Chad first appears as a student in Ichigo's class. A few days after Ichigo becomes a shinigami, Chad is offered a cursed cockatiel whose previous owners have all died horrible deaths. The bird is in fact the container for the spirit of a dead child, placed there by a hollow who uses him as bait. Chad is forced to fight the hollow despite not being able to see it, assisted by Rukia Kuchiki. Ichigo defeats the hollow then performs a soul burial on Yūichi Shibata. Beforehand, Chad promises that he will carry Shibata again if they meet in Soul Society, he will carry him around as he did over the last few days. Later on, when Uryū Ishida's duel with Ichigo unleashes a multitude of hollows upon the town, Chad is pressed into battle with another hollow. It is this event that awakens his spiritual powers, which manifest as armor on his right arm. Soul Society arc After Rukia is taken back to Soul Society, Chad and Orihime Inoue are trained by Yoruichi Shihōin to consciously call upon their powers when needed. After a week, Chad leaves for Soul Society with Orihime, Uryū, Yoruichi, and Ichigo. In Rukongai, Chad is reunited with Shibata, who has not yet found his mother but is living with a "family" of non-related people. At this point, Chad fulfilled his promise, carrying the boy on his shoulder for most of the day. When the group is separated once entering Seireitei, Chad ends up alone. Chad easily fights this way through a fair portion of the shinigami about Soul Society, but meets his match in Shunsui Kyōraku, captain of the 8th Division in the Gotei 13. Kyōraku easily beats Chad, leaving him heavily injured but alive. Following this, Chad, along with the rest of Ichigo's friends, does not actively participate in events. After being healed by the 4th Division and subsequently freed by Kenpachi Zaraki of the 11th Division, Zaraki's lieutenant, Yachiru Kusajishi, leads the group to the Sōkyoku where they wait as Ichigo and Byakuya Kuchiki fight. After Byakuya is defeated, the group tends to Ichigo. They then find out that the events at Soul Society were an elaborate plot masterminded by Sōsuke Aizen and confront him, but Aizen departs for Hueco Mundo. Uryū, Chad, Ichigo, and Orihime depart for the living world. Bount arc In the anime, after the Soul Society arc, Chad returns to school and helps Ichigo defeat the modified souls created by Kisuke Urahara. He is taken captive along with Orihime, and the modsoul Kuroud impersonates him in front of Ichigo, who eventually identifies the impostor. Chad is let in on the plan before this point, and thus went along with it until Ichigo figures out what's going on. When the war against the Bount starts, Chad forms part of the group which aims to defeat them. He is paired with the modsoul Noba to seek out and destroy the Bount. He encounters Sawatari and fights him along with Rangiku Matsumoto, Noba, and Ururu Tsumugiya. The battle ends undecided. After the Bount invades Soul Society, Chad meets up with Ichigo to fight Jin Kariya. However, the fight doesn't last very long, as their battle reveals the massive energy source Jōkaishō, which Kariya absorbs and uses its potential destructive power as a threat to keep them at bay. Arrancar arc After returning from Soul Society (for a second time in the anime) and being confronted by the arrival of the first arrancar, Chad is badly injured and realizes that he is not strong enough to help Ichigo fight. Chad turns to Kisuke Urahara for help, asking for training. Urahara pits him against Renji Abarai, having him fight continuously against Renji's bankai. Hueco Mundo arc When Orihime is captured by Sōsuke Aizen, Chad and Uryū offer their services to help Ichigo rescue her. When Ichigo hesitates, Chad demonstrates the power of his improved arm, quelling any fears he might have had. The trio then depart to Hueco Mundo. Upon their arrival, Uryū and Chad engage two arrancar named Iceringer and Demōra, telling Ichigo to watch them. After initially struggling against Iceringer, Chad switches opponents with Uryū and easily defeats the slower and less intelligent Demōra with his new attack, El Directo. After making their way to Las Noches, joined by Rukia, Renji, and a group of friendly hollows, the group splits up. Chad runs into Gantenbainne Mosqueda, initially outmatched by the former Espada. However, the battle helps him awaken the full extent of his powers, and he easily beats Gantenbainne after they awaken. His victory is short-lived, however, as the 5th Espada, Nnoitra Jiruga, severely wounds him and leaves him for dead. To Nnoitra's suprise however, Chad manages to get back up, gravely wounded, and attempts another attack but is stopped and defeated by Nnoitra's Fracción, Tesla. Chad and Gantenbainne are eventually found by the Exequias, who plan to finish them off, but Retsu Unohana and Isane Kotetsu interrupt. He then attacks the Exequias who are fighting Ichigo along with Renji and Rukia. Powers Physically Enhanced: When first introduced, Chad had no special powers aside from his unusual strength and endurance. Even without his powers, Chad is strong enough to break a telephone pole and swing it like a bat, and likewise is resilient enough to be hit by a falling steel girder and only suffer minor wounds. Spiritual Sense: After his encounter with the cockatiel containing the soul of Yūichi Shibata, he started to detect the approximate locations of spirits and hollows, but could not fully see them. Only after saving Karin Kurosaki from a hollow, during the hollow-slaying match between Uryū and Ichigo, did Chad begin to fully see spirits. At the same time that he became able to clearly see spirits, he also awakened his latent spiritual ability, which manifests as armor on his right arm called the Brazo Derecha de Gigante (巨人の右腕, ブラソ・デレチャ・デ・ヒガンテ, lit. Right Arm of the Giant).Bleach manga; chapter 259, page 19. The armor is colored black with a red stripe going down the center and two white stripes surrounding it (the same colors used on Mexican military dress uniforms). Chad's armor increases his strength beyond its already impressive level, and enables him to fire powerful energy blasts from his fist. After receiving training from Yoruichi Shihōin, Chad learns to activate his powers at will and gains enough stamina to fire multiple blasts. After seeing how helpless he was against the arrancar who invaded Karakura Town, Chad requested that Kisuke Urahara train him. Urahara proceeded to pit him in single combat against Renji Abarai's ''bankai''. He noted Chad's powers still had room to grow, but they did not resemble those of a Quincy or shinigami. After training with Renji, Chad gains an improved version of his armored arm. Compared with its previous form, the pattern on Chad's arm becomes more intricate, and gives him an even greater increase in physical might. Chad also gains a new special attack called El Directo (巨人の一撃, エル・ディレクト, lit. The Strike of the Giant; Spanish, The Direct). To perform it, the flanges on Chad's arm open up and he punches the enemy.Bleach manga; chapter 247, pages 2, 3. While in Hueco Mundo, Chad's powers were disturbed by the environment, which hindered his abilities. It was not until being beaten for some time by Gantenbainne Mosqueda that Chad's powers settled. With this, Chad realized that his powers were more at home in Hueco Mundo since they resembled hollow powers. When Chad was attacked by Gantenbainne, the arm felt it like an attack from its own kind and regained its composure, allowing Chad to finally admit to himself the truth about his power. This allowed him to fully tap his powers, which manifests as armor on both arms, instead of just his right. Chad's full-powered right arm is still called the Brazo Derecha de Gigante (巨人の右腕, ブラソ・デレチャ・デ・ヒガンテ, Right Arm of the Giant) but is now used for defense instead of offense (though it's still more powerful offensively than his original arm). Chad says that "the soul of his Abuelo flows through his right arm," which may mean the literal manifestation of his grandfather's spirit in the arm, though it is also likely that Chad was speaking metaphorically of his grandfather's teachings. In the scene where his grandfather protects him from his childhood victims, the coin he recieves is put onto his right hand. Brazo Derecha de Gigante becomes a shield that extends from his hand to some distance beyond his forearm with the same intricate pattern as before, surrounding what appears to be hollow-like teeth in the center and a rose like pattern near the end. He also loses the wing-like protrusion which extended from his shoulder, replaced with an angular plate sitting over his shoulder. For some reason, this recent furtherance of Chad's powers seem to augment his natural agility to the point where his reaction time became sufficient enough to anticipate high-speed attacks and counter them. Chad's armored left arm, used for attack, is known as the Brazo Izquierda del Diablo (悪魔の左腕, ブラソ・イスキエルダ・デル・ディアボロ, lit. Left Arm of the Devil).Bleach manga; chapter 260, pages 18 and 19. It looks similar to his original armored arm but the color is inverted and it has a more streamlined appearance it also looks like ichigos hollow arms from when he was working to control his hollow transformation with Hiyori Sarugaki. A spike protrudes from the shoulder and two more extend over his chest. With this arm, Chad gains a special attack known as La Muerte (魔人の一撃, ラ・ムエルテ, lit. The Strike of the Demon; Spanish, The Death).Bleach manga; chapter 261, page 10. To perform it, he charges up and punches his opponent, releasing a huge skull-shaped energy blast on contact. Special effects include causing opponents to revert to their normal form without knocking them unconscious. References Sado Sado